Wildfires destroy 40 homes and kill a firefighter in Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – A firefighter has died battling blazes that have destroyed around 40 homes in two Australian states, officials said Monday.

The 59-year-old man was struck by a falling tree Sunday night while fighting a wildfire near the New South Wales town of Bulahdelah that had razed 3,500 hectares (8,650 acres) of woodlands and destroyed four homes over the weekend, Rural Fire Service Commissioner Trent Curtin said.

The man could not be resusitated. Firefighters expected to be battling that blaze for days, Curtin said.

There were 52 wildfires burning across New South Wales on Monday and nine remained out of control. A total of 20 homes had destroyed over the weekend in that state, Curtin said.

In the island state of Tasmania, 19 homes had been destroyed by a weekend wildfire in the coastal community of Dolphin Sands, local government official Dick Shaw told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The fire had been contained by Monday, but the road to the community remained closed and it was not yet safe for residents to return to their homes, Shaw said.